Download Emily Harvale - 20 tips on how to self-publish

Twenty tips for self-publishers
I’m assuming – because you’re reading this – that you want to self-publish. I’m sure you
haven’t made this decision lightly and I’m certain that several people have given you their
views on the subject – whether you wanted them or not. It doesn’t matter why you’ve chosen
to go down this route; you’ve made up your mind and now you just want to get on with it.
Congratulations! You’re about to embark on possibly one of the
most terrifying but thrilling, adventures of your life. I can speak
from experience having self-published my first eBook, Highland
Fling, in 2012. Believe me though, the self-publishing rollercoaster
has more ups and downs and twists and turns than any Theme Park
ride, so be prepared. Sometimes you’ll feel you want to get off;
other times you’ll wonder if the mechanism’s working properly but
after the first time, you’ll want to do it all again.
I’ll tell you about my journey so far but don’t worry I’ll be brief;
you’re not here to read about me.
I took this route because I had health problems and I didn’t want to
wait several weeks for a response from a publisher, and then be
unable to comply with their timing requirements. Neither did I want
to wait months for my book to come out when I could put it on
Amazon in a matter of days, after the final edits were completed. I had no idea how to selfpublish though so I read hundreds of blogs, asked lots of questions ... and made several
mistakes before – and after – pressing the Publish button on Amazon. I wasn’t very
comfortable with self-promotion, so I didn’t do any. Instead, I drank lots of coffee and
wondered what to do next.
I sold around 500 copies in the first few months and, still not really having a clue what I was
doing as far as marketing was concerned, I wrote another book and published that. Sales
were trickling in but I needed to get my books noticed.
Isabelle Goddard, a friend and fellow author, suggested I run a
free promotion via Amazon’s KDP Select, so for two days from
the 21st December 2012, I gave away, Highland Fling. I drank
more coffee whilst I sat and watched as 12,000+ free copies were
downloaded. To my sheer astonishment, after the free promotion
ended, my books started to sell in large numbers. I switched from
coffee to champagne (well it was Christmas) when both my
books got into the top 100 in several of the Amazon charts. I’ve
now sold around 22,000 eBooks. Not bad for a novice!
A few weeks ago, Amazon contacted me to ask if they could
include one of my books in their Kindle Summer Sale promotion.
http://amzn.to/19n72GA Naturally I said, ‘Yes!’ Things are
going very well indeed – but I still don’t have a solid marketing
plan!
I do however, now have four books out and two more are due out later this year. I only
publish my eBooks with Amazon because they are all in KDP Select. This means they can be
borrowed and I earn money each time they are but I have to give Amazon exclusivity. I’m
very happy with this arrangement and whether you’re an Amazon fan or not, the fact is that
at the time of writing, Amazon sells more eBooks than any other eBook retailer.
So, that’s my story. Now let me share some very important tips – but bear in mind, these are
just my personal views and experiences. They are not carved in stone and they don’t come
via a burning bush, but oddly enough there are ten of them. Well two lots of ten, but who’s
counting?
Before you take the leap:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
You really should have a website and/or a blog. Readers need to have somewhere to
go to find out more about you and your books. I had both designed and built by the
hugely talented and very affordable, David of http://www.dccreation.com but if you
don’t have the cash, there are free websites available.
I believe in Facebook! Set up a personal Facebook profile and start making friends.
Join some groups too. Do a few posts saying your book
will be out soon. Tell people the title of it now and give
them a brief summary. Make it interesting! Don’t just
promote your book though. There’s nothing more boring
than seeing the same posts over and over again, ‘buy my
book’ etc. I love supporting other authors but I don’t
want my newsfeed stuffed with repetitious promotion. I
want to see pictures of cute cats, and cakes people have
baked, but hey, that’s just me.
Set up a Facebook author page and do the same as above.
You’ll find that some people want to ‘Like’ your page;
others prefer to be your friend. I think you should give them the choice. I love getting
posts and messages from happy readers and it’s great to be able to interact with them
on both my author page and my personal profile.
I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn, Goodreads and Pinterest and I have a Google+ account
but I don’t do much on any of those. Pick from all the sites available and find the ones
you like. Don’t spend all your time on social media though. Write your next book.
Look at several books on Amazon in your genre/style. Check their rankings, product
details and covers. Study the bestsellers charts. Pick a few books and follow their
progress for a couple of weeks. See what does and doesn't appear to work. The
product description can really sell your book but it’s incredibly difficult to get this
right. I still haven’t, but I’m working on it! Don’t rush it. Read several, and the back
covers of DVDs too. Jot down the parts that ‘grabbed’ you then make yours the best
that you can. The good thing is you can change this as often as you want after you’ve
published your book.
6. COVERS do matter! They’re the first thing people see.
They’re your shop window. A good cover boosts, upmarket
designer store, a bad cover whines, second-hand discount goods.
Which window would you rather go window shopping in? If
people don't like the shop window, they’re not going to enter the
store (product details) let alone make a purchase. Make sure your
cover 'suits' your book and that it looks good as a thumbnail.
Again, look at other people’s books and see what works in your
genre before you pick your own. I pay an illustrator to draw and
design mine but you can buy stock photos or find some good free
ones. You can contact Karina, my cover artist at
http://www.missnyss.com
7.
8.
9.
10.
Employ an editor. This is expensive but it’s worth it. No
matter how many times you’ve read your book, there will
still be some mistakes you’ve missed. Editors can help with
more than just spelling and grammar if you want them too.
Find the right one for your needs. I found mine here:
http://www.sfep.org.uk
Set up your Amazon author pages via Author Central. There
are separate pages for all the countries Amazon sells books
to but I’ve only set up pages for the UK and the US sites.
Just follow the simple instructions and remember to link
your blog and Twitter.
Try to organise a marketing plan (unlike me). Read Janice
Horton’s ‘How to Party Online’, for some ideas.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CLT3MQ2
I also bring out a paperback of my books via Createspace.
http://www.createspace.com Some people prefer to read a paperback and I like to give
them the option. The paperback and eBook link on Amazon and I think it looks much
more professional to have both, but that’s just my opinion. Consider whether you want
to do this. The paperback takes a little longer to become available.
When you’re ready to upload your book, make sure you get the layout and formatting right.
Amazon has a free book to tell you how to do it. It’s called ‘Building your Book for Kindle.’
Read it. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007URVZJ6
1.
Your text should be single spaced and I do mine, text justified, like a paper book, but
some people just justify left. Your choice.
2. You don't need an ISBN. Amazon assigns each book an
ASIN – it’s free. There are some benefits of having your own
ISBNs but I used Amazon’s to start with. It’s one less thing to
think/worry about and pay for.
3. You should have a copyright notice. You can find one in
any book. Just read a few and decide what you want yours to say.
They’re all very similar.
4. You need to decide whether or not to enable DRM. This
means Digital Rights Management and it limits the devices on
which your book can be read/shared. Once you make this decision
and publish, you can't change it for that title. Google DRM and
read about it before you decide.
5. Price your book TO SELL. By this I mean, don’t overprice
your book but don’t undervalue your work either. See what others
are selling for and price yours accordingly. You can run a
promotion for the first few weeks at a lower price and say in the
product description that this is for August or 2 weeks or whatever,
and then increase the price afterwards. I think it’s better to have
lots of sales at a lower price and get into one of the many Amazon
charts than to have a few sales at a high price and fade into the
distance. You get different Royalty rates for different countries
depending on the price you set so read the pricing section
9.
10.
carefully. I link all countries to the US except for the UK which I price at £1.93. VAT
is added (3%) so my books sell for £1.99.
6. Do a free promotion. Remember, most of us are unknowns; people need to find us.
Post details on Facebook and other social media sites. There are several websites that
carry details of free books if you plan in advance. Google ‘free books’ and you’ll find
them. Free books are not lost sales. Most of the people who download it for free,
wouldn’t have bought your book, but if they like it, they may well buy the next one.
That’s how it worked for me.
7.
It definitely helps to have more than
one title for sale, so get writing the next
book now, if you haven’t already written it.
A series of books is also a good way to
encourage readers to buy your next book.
My second book is a follow on from the
first but it introduces new characters.
Readers are often asking me to write more
books about all these characters.
8.
Some people ask their friends and
family to post ‘fake’ reviews. PLEASE
don’t do this. You’re not helping anyone in
the long run.
You need to get an ITIN otherwise Amazon will deduct 30% for US taxes. You can do
this by post or go in person to the US Embassy in London. Both Amazon and Createspace
have a standard letter you download together with the application form. Once the
Embassy has these, it’ll take around 6 weeks for you to receive your ITIN in the post.
You then complete W-8BEN forms (again from Amazon) and send one to the postal
addresses given on each of the retailers’ websites.
Royalties are paid 60 days in arrears so you’ll have to wait for two months for your first
payment but if you’ve set up your account for EFT, Amazon will send you a remittance
advice a week or two before the monies go into your account. Remember, no income tax
has been deducted from these monies so set aside an appropriate amount each month to
cover this. Put it in a separate savings account and don’t touch it! You don’t want to
spend it all now and then get a nasty tax demand at the year end.
Well, there are lots of other things I could tell you but I’ll stop now. I wish you the best of
luck with your adventure. I firmly believe that it’s a wonderful experience and I have never
regretted for one second, going it alone. It’s hard work but being in control of your book and
making all the decisions is truly liberating. I especially like being able to choose my own
covers. How does my cover artist create them? Let’s see what Karina says:
‘When Emily first contacted me about
her book covers, she had a definite
look in mind. She wanted something
romantic and whimsical, with a
modern twist. We discussed various
ideas and swapped photo references to
get a sense of how the characters
would fit in the real world. Seemingly minor aspects of the cover became quite important in
terms of continuity within the story. The first draft for ‘Lizzie Marshall’s Wedding’
presented the female character, Becky, wearing a full-on Russian fur coat – until Emily told
me that the wedding was set in August! So we revamped her outfit to a summer dress.
The process I use when creating the covers involves gathering reference material and hand
drawing them in pencil. I tend to draw many of the elements separately, in order to play with
the composition. The initial draft is then sent for Emily to consider. We usually discuss any
changes and then further detail and colour is added. I use a mixture of scanned textures and
patterns to keep the image looking lively and rustic. Becky’s dress is actually made from a
piece of Origami paper. I also tend to hand paint scenery and flowers/greenery using
watercolour and play with the hue of these digitally. Then the blurb and fonts are added later
to complete the cover.
We’ve tried to keep the covers to a similar theme and it’s exciting to see them as part of a
collection within Emily’s fast growing body of work.’
I have one signed copy of Sailing Solo and a bookmark to
give to one reader and a further three bookmarks to three
others. There’s a picture of the bookmark in the text above.
It’s the one with the staggered covers.
For more about me and my books, pop over to my website.
http://www.emilyharvale.com and if you fancy ‘liking’ my
author page, that would be fab.
http://www.facebook.com/emilyharvalewriter
I’d also love a review on Amazon, if you’ve read any of my
books. (See – I told you I’m rubbish at self-promotion).
Thanks so much if you have.
©Emily Harvale 2013